Telepresence
and Bio Art: Networking Humans, Rabbits,
and Robots
by Eduardo Kac
University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor,
MI, 2005
320 pp., illus. 100 b/w, col. Trade, $65.00;
paper, $27.95
ISBN: 0-472-09810-1; ISBN: 0-472-06810-5.
Reviewed by Dene Grigar
Texas Womans University
dgrigar@twu.edu
Telepresence and Bio Art is an
important book in the field of media art,
though not because it chronicles the intellectual
journey of artist and theorist Eduardo
Kac. A compilation of Kacs essays
written over the course of 12 years (1991-2002),
the book breaks no new ground or provides
any new insights into his work. Rather,
it is important because it chronicles
the history and development of electronic
art from the unique perspective of one
of its most prominent artists and theorists.
The strength of the book is this insiders
take of the art discussed, as well as
its vast international scope and the naughty
delight it offers with its many claims
and prognostications about electronic
art that have and have not come true.
The book is divided into three parts:
The first consists of four essays focusing
on the art and theory of early electronic
art. The first essay, "The Aesthetics
of Telecommunications" (1992), argues
that media art is developing in a similar
manner as telecommunication art did in
that the new media, first, "impacts" the
old, and, then, is utilized in highly
"experimental" ways (8). Much evidence
is produced to support this view, from
Laszlo Moholy-Nagys Telephone
Pictures (1924) to Roy Ascotts
Teminal Art (1980). Those familiar
with Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusins
notion of "remediation" that appeared
eight years after the publication of this
essay may take pleasure in reading this
first hint of that theory. The three essays
that follow are also compellingthe
first two, dealing with internet art and
interactive art, respectively, because
of the rich history related, and the last
one because of its theoretical position:
an explanation of "the dialogic principle
in the visual arts" (104). Readers may
notice in this essay a tonal shift that
separates it from the previous three but
connects it more with the next 12; it
is understandable in light of the fact
that each of 16 essays has been previously
published and, so, are aimed at different
audiences.
To be honest, the book takes flight in
Part II, "Telepresence Art and Robotics."
Perhaps it is because it is the point
in the text where the focus shifts from
a third person report on an emergent art
form to a first person account of ones
emerging practice of that art. More is
at stake, and one feels it: Kacs
work with telepresence art from the period
of 1991 to 2000. The passion with which
the author writes about his work is what
takes hold of the readerthat,
and watching the telerobotic project,
Ornitorrinco, evolve from an experiment
with telecommunications and wireless telerobotics
in Chapter 5; to that of an experiment
with "real-time video and sound" (150)Ornitorrinco
on the Moonin Chapter
6; to a "networked telepresence installation"
(157), Ornitorrinco in Eden, in
Chapter 7; to finally the geographically
dispersed events, Ornitorrinco in the
Sahara and Ornitorrinco . . . and
Back in Chapter 10. Odd among these
essays is "Live from Mars," a response
to the historical Mars landing published
in Leonardo Electronic Almanac
in 1997. Alone, it is a terrific analysis
of the import of that event; placed within
these accounts of ones personal
art vision, it stands out as disjunctive.
The final section, "Bio Art," takes us
to the place where many people know Kacs
work: transgenic art and the GFP Bunny.
Reading Parts 2 and 3, one can imagine
how Kac got from Point A, "Telepresence,"
to Point B, "Bio Art." Though he never
comes right out and tells us so (it is
stated only in the title), we can intimate
from these essays that his interest in
telepresence seemed to lead him to think
about the relationship between the body
and technology within a particular space
and timewhich in turn seemed
to take him to simulations of the body
dispersed through space in immediate time
(real-time)which in turn led
him to question the way humans intervene
in the body with technologywhich
in turn led him to wonder about the way
humans intervene with the animal body
with the specific technologies of geneticswhich
in turn led him to genetically engineer
a green rabbit. Of the final two essays,
"The Eighth Day," fits into the progression
of ideas in that it expands Kacs
notion of transgenic art from the creation
of one new life form to creating a universe
of them. "Move 386," the final essay of
the book, is a brief description of the
transgenic art project by the same name.
It is not readily apparent how this work
expands upon or more deeply investigates
what he has already done in the area.
What would be helpful to readers is to
hear what Kac has to say about his work
in retrospect, to have at ones fingertips
some commentary either at the beginning
of each "chapter" or at the end in some
"final essay" that synthesizes the work
and contextualizes it in current art and
theoryas well as in Kacs
own (current) views about the state of
electronic art. One is reminded of Edward
Shankens in-depth introduction to
Roy Ascotts writings in The Telematic
Embrace or the clever use of interviews
in Marille Hahns edited volume of
Jill Scotts work, Coded Characters:
Media Art by Jill Scott. Approaches
like these would add to an understanding
of the development of electronic art as
well as the importance of Kacs work
through time. For students reading the
book, a glossary of Kacs terms would
be a welcome addition, particularly since
these early definitions vary sometimes
from current ones. Also, a list of Kacs
art recounted chronologically, as well
as that produced by others, would also
be useful.